Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to Senate Republicans: "Take a vote, not a vacation"

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder cut short his trade trip to Israel and returned to Lansing Thursday to try to persuade reluctant lawmakers in the Michigan Senate to approve an expansion of Medicaid.

To no avail.

The Senate dodged a vote on the expansion through the afternoonand adjourned for two months without following up on Medicaid expansion the House approved last week.

The expansion, expected to cover 400,000 uninsured in Michigan and save the state money, has run headlong into opposition from tea party and conservative Republicans who don't want a federal government expansion into health care.

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At 4:15 p.m., the Senate had still not adjourned and Snyder held a hastily-called news conference that was livestreamed on the Internet to address the impasse in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Snyder was flanked by health care providers and small employers who support the expansion, and the governor urged Michigan residents to pressure senators to "Take a vote, not a vacation."

The expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and initially would be paid for by the federal government. A Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of the House version that was passed estimates it'll take 15 years before savings to the state are less than the costs of the expansion.

"This is a critically important topic to our state," Snyder said. "We have a broken health care system in this country. There's people sitting in the emergency room, there's unmanaged care, uncompensated care. That's a failure for all of us."

Snyder said Michigan residents will pay $1.5 billion to the federal government in taxes under Obamacare, and that hospital and medical providers stand to absorb another $800 million in cuts.

The governor said accepting money to expand Medicaid is one way to offset the costs.

"If it doesn't come to a vote, it doesn't get done," Snyder said. "That's not the right answer for Michigan."

The House-passed legislation ignored by the Senate was House Bill 4714.

Democrats joined with the governor in criticizing the Republican majority in the Senate for failing to vote.

"This is the latest example of the Tea Party running our state government," said state Rep. Tim Greimel, an Auburn Hills Democrat and the minority party leader in the House.

"Rather than heed the recommendation of their Republican governor and pro-business organizations such as the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Republicans in the Senate cravenly capitulated to a small group of extremists who would rather see their neighbors suffer from untreated disease than accept federal funds to expand Medicaid," Greimel said. "They did nothing to help out small businesses who begged them to pass this bill because it would bring them relief. Voters should hold them accountable at the ballot box."

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, a Monroe Republican, issued his own statement while the governor was fielding questions at his news conference.

"The debate and discussion regarding reforming Medicaid in Michigan is not over," Richardville said. "Members of my caucus have been working hard to improve upon something that was hoisted upon us by a federal government that had very little consideration for the impact of this program on the taxpayers of Michigan. We owe it to our neighbors and communities to thoroughly review this issue and consider alternatives to the current proposal.

"The legislation will be referred to committee and a legislative workgroup will spend the summer reviewing the current legislation and proposals offered by my colleagues that seek to improve upon the tremendous work that has already been done," he said. "I look forward to working with the governor, the House and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to present a plan for a healthier Michigan."

Contact Charles Crumm at 248-745-4649, charlie.crumm@oakpress.com or follow him on Twitter @crummc and on Facebook. More information is at oaklandmichiganpolitics.blogspot.com. Keep up with the latest in local news by texting OPNews to 22700. Msg & Data Rates May Apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.